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January 21, 2016
Dealing With Aggressive Dogs
As a court approved expert for dog aggressive cases, there are many aspects that must be considered when evaluating the dog. Important considerations are if the aggressive display was offensive or defensive, did the dog make a strike, if a bite occurred, did the bite puncture the skin, how deep was the puncture, and what were the circumstances that stimulated the aggression. This information helps to determine what, if anything, can be done to rehab the dog.
Having over 35 years of experience with training both personal and commercial protection dogs, I find that the all-positive training method is the worst approach to take with an aggressive dog. In this training method is it suggested to block and redirect the dog’s attention using a treat or a toy. It is believed that an attempt at punishing an aggressive dog will only make it more aggressive. This is not the case nor the proven methid to use with an aggressive dog. When training a dog to be a personal protection dog, the block and redirect method is used in order to teach the dog a command to make an aggressive display. The “bad guy” appears from behind a blinder causing the dog to make an aggressive display, the “bad guy” then retreats and hides behind the blinder and the handler rewards the dog. This process allows the trainer to teach the dog a command word to stimulate the aggressive behavior. This method likewise increases the dog’s confidence and intensifies the dog’s aggression. In order to cease the dog’s aggressive display, a leash and collar are used to control and negatively reinforce that the behavior is no longer appropriate. A second command is paired with the use of the collar to teach the dog when it needs to cease making the aggressive display.
The majority off all-positive trainers do not have experience working with protection dogs. Following the all-positive methodology in order to control a dog’s aggression may actually make the dog’s aggression worse and more out of control.